I do not own Harry Potter, the story would have been very different if I did.

Hello guys, Badger here. I hope everyone is doing well. I am here with the third chapter for a story that a lot of people surprisingly enjoy. I didn't expect for people to enjoy this story as much as they are. Especially this early on. I know someone had sent me PM, practically demanding for me to write the 3rd chapter. I understand that people want to see what happens next, unfortunately my schedule doesn't match with yours. As I'm in Uni, I write when I want to, whenever I have the time to.

Anyway, that is all for now. I'll let you guys the third chapter and I'll see you at the end.

Chapter 3

An Innocent Man?

Harry had a smile on his face, as he walked alongside Susan and Hannah as they made their way down one of the many corridors of Hogwarts Castle, towards their first lesson, Charms. The previous night, during the Welcoming Feast, Harry had felt slightly overwhelmed. The people, the food. Everything. Susan had noticed this and asked Harry about it. When Harry had told her how overwhelmed he was feeling, she shrugged, stating that it was natural, as this was the first time Harry had been in the Magical World, let alone being around magic. Harry couldn't really disagree with that, he felt overwhelmed being in Diagon Alley for the first time. And people recognising him for his scar didn't help with things. However, despite how overwhelmed he felt, that didn't remove the smile from his face. He was away from the Dursleys and he slept in a proper bed for the first time. He thought about telling someone about how they treated him, but he was scared that his uncle would bribe them to keep quiet. He's done it before. Harry once told one of his primary school teachers about the abuse and, not only did his uncle bribe the Head Teacher but, he also had the teacher fired.

Shaking his head, the Hufflepuff trio entered the Charms classroom and sat on the Hufflepuff side of the classroom, whilst the Ravenclaws sat on the opposite side. Harry watched as a short, half goblin, stand up, on top of a tall stack of books, allowing him to overlook the entire classroom. Professor Flitwick. His crystal blue eyes scanned the entire room, looking to each and every student, before he smiled brightly.

"Welcome to Charms Class" He said, his voice squeaky yet enthusiastic, evident that he was passionate about the subject "Charms, though seen as a softer form of magic, can be difficult to master and can prove useful in a duel…in my class, you'll be able to perform simple spells like the Levitating Charm, to more advanced spells, like the Gouging Spell, which allows a Witch or Wizard to carve through stone or earth with ease, though you won't be learning spells like that for a few years yet"

Flitwick took out his wand and waved it in a wide arc. This caused feathers to appear from nowhere, seemingly being created from nothing. With a feather in front of every student, Flitwick waved his wand again, causing writing to appear in white chalk on the blackboards in the classroom. On the blackboard, were written instructions for 'Wingardium Leviosa', The Levitating Charm, as well as clear instructions on the correct wand movement.

"Wingardium Leviosa, the Levitation charm, is the perfect spell for beginners" Flitwick said "A spell that can make things fly…however, despite being a spell for beginners, like all spells, it requires great concentration, as well as the correct wand movement…repeat after me…swish and flick!"

"Swish and flick" The class repeated

"Very good!" Flitwick beamed "Now, be careful with your wand movement, don't be too vigorous and make sure you pronounce the spell correctly and speak clearly and remember to concentrate…Swish and Flick!"

All at once, every student took out their wands and attempted the spell. As Flitwick was too short to walk around and help students, he remained where he was, standing on top of the stack of books, looking to each and every student and handing out feedback to the ones that were struggling, to help them improve.

Meanwhile, on the Hufflepuff side of the classroom, Harry concentrated hard, as he had his wand pointed at the feather laying in front of him. With the help of Susan, Harry was able to pronounce the spell correctly and do the correct wand movement. All he needed to do was combine the two and preform the spell. Concentrating hard, Harry waved his wand in the correct movement, and pronouncing the incantation, the feather slowly levitated a few inches of the desk, before falling back down. Frowning Harry tried again, where this time, it levitated higher, which caught the attention of Flitwick, who smiled and awarded Harry 10 points to Hufflepuff.

…

Amelia Bones felt a cold shiver run up and down her spine as she stood on the shores of Azkaban, the large stone prison towering over her, covering herself and the sea in dark shadows and fog. The prison always gave anyone who visited a sick feeling in their stomach, the very presence of the building giving them feelings of dread and despair and, whilst Amelia couldn't see the Dementors, she could feel them staring at her, as they hid in the fog. Shaking off her fears, Amelia was led into the prison, by the warden, who led her to Sirius' cell once she told him who she was here for.

The screams and wails of the other prisoners echoed in Amelia's mind as they passed each and every cell along the way. The dim and dark lighting in the corridors didn't help either. Amelia was tempted to take out her wand and cover the entire building in silencing charms to drown out the noise, but even then, she was almost certain silencing charms wouldn't be enough. Thankfully, the warden led her to a section of Azkaban that was quieter, the screams from other prisoners faint. The warden stopped in front of a cell near the very end of the corridor.

"Here we are Ma'am" He said, voice gruff and harsh "You probably won't get a word out of him, I can't remember the last time he spoke"

With nothing else to say, the warden left, having other duties to attend to. Amelia watched the man leave, before turning to the cell, looking through the bars. Due to the poor lighting, the cell was dark, but Amelia was sure she could see someone laying down at the back wall.

"Sirius Black?" She called out

Amelia heard movement, as a figure in the darkness stood up slowly, making grunting noises, as Amelia heard what she could only guess was stiff bones clicking, as the figure approached the cell bars. Removing her wand, Amelia muttered 'Lumos', so she can see better. Now, with the cell being illuminated by the light, Amelia had a better look of the man that was Sirius Black. Back in his days as a Hogwarts student, Sirius was considered to be one of the most attractive boys in his Fifth to Seventh Years, with many girls calling him a 'bad boy'. However, looking at the man in front of her, that 'bad boy' was a mere memory. It was evident that his time in Azkaban had not been kind to him. He was in his early 30's, but he looked like he was in his late 40's to early 50's, with his wrinkled and aged skin, his hair went past his shoulders in greasy curls, with an equally greasy, scraggly beard. His eyes haunted and his body was almost skeletal from ten years of little to no food.

The very sight horrified her of what has become of a man, who might have been innocent the whole time. If Sirius Black was an innocent man, Amelia didn't think he was in the right shape or condition to raise Harry, even if he is the boys Godfather. She could only imagine everything a healer needed to fix and undo, and that was only physical problems, only Merlin knows what must be going on in the man's mind.

"Amelia Bones" Sirius said, giving view to his yellow stained teeth, his voice raspy and hoarse, as he tilted his head slightly "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I'm doing my job Sirius" Amelia replied "And it's come to my attention that you, might in fact, be innocent"

"Oh really, well it's about time" Sirius chuckled, before he started coughing, holding his chest, as if laughing hurt him "Well…how did you realise the Ministry's past mistake?"

"I met Harry" Amelia replied

As soon as Amelia finished speaking, she saw a change in the man in front of her. It was like someone had flipped a switch, because he got right up to the bars, gripping onto the metal, a look of desperation in his eyes.

"Harry…he's okay?" He asked

"He's fine…though he's not had the best life" Amelia replied "My investigations have found that he's been abused his whole life"

"WHAT, WHO'S BEEN RAISING HIM?" Sirius yelled, looking fearful, as if he knew the answer "TELL ME!"

"Vernon and Petunia Dursley" Amelia answered, awaiting the explosion or rage that quickly followed

"WHAT….THOSE BASTARDS, I'LL KILL THEM!" Sirius yelled, shaking the bars of his cell, with impressive strength for someone who had been malnourished for the past decade

"Sirius calm down" Amelia replied, using a calming spell, with how worked up he was getting "I've placed the Dursleys in a holding cell, the Minister has been able to arrange a trial which will be happening at the end of this week…despite admitting under Veritaserum, they need to be put on trial before the Wizengamot where they can then be legally charged and punished by the law…after their trial, you'll then be sat before the Wizengamot, where you'll be given the trial you should've been given ten years ago"

"You mean, I'll be free?" Sirius asked, his grip on the cell bars loosening as he slumped slightly

"If we can prove your innocence, then yes" Amelia replied "For now though, I have a warrant from the Ministry, allowing me to move you from your cell to a Ministry Holding Cell until your trial…once your innocence has been proven, I'll have you looked over by a healers…you may be Harry's godfather, but you won't be able to raise Harry in your condition, so hopefully, Harry's custody will be handed over to me"

"As long as I get to be a part of Harry's life, that doesn't matter to me" Sirius replied, looking down at the ground "Besides, I don't think I'd be great at raising children"

"Don't be so hard on yourself Sirius, I'm sure you would've been great" Amelia said "But enough of that, let's get you out of here"

Amelia got rid of the light and waved her wand, sending an alert to the warden. When he arrived, Amelia informed him that Sirius was to be transferred to a Ministry Holding Cell. The warden shrugged, not really caring about any reason Amelia had to give and unlocked the cell door, though he did keep his hand on his wand, just in case Sirius tried anything. As it was part of Ministry Protocol, Amelia used a binding spell on Sirius' wrists, so he was restrained, before leading him out of Azkaban.

For the first time in ten years, Sirius saw the sun and felt the breeze on his skin. He was almost blinded by the sun and had to hold an arm in front of his eyes, so his eyes could adjust. Walking alongside Amelia, who kept an hand on him, keeping him restrained, he took several deep breaths in and out, enjoying the fresh air for the first time in a long time. He was so happy to be out, not even the presence of Dementors, watching him being escorted, could tarnish his enjoyment.

When the two of them left the Anti-Apparation wards, Amelia made sure she had a tight grip on Sirius, before Apparating away from the island.

…

Meanwhile, back inside Hogwarts, Quirrell watched as his students left his classroom, smiling nervously as he said goodbye to them. As soon as the last student left and the door closed with a soft thud, the nervousness on his face was replaced with a snarl, as he opened a draw on his desk and removed a potion vial. A Pain Relief Potion. Putting up his fake act of being a nervous, useless wreck was causing him headaches. Hopefully he wouldn't have to keep it up for much longer.

His Master was less then happy, when Quirrell broke into Gringotts, only to find that the Philosophers Stone was no longer there. Luckily Quirrell was able to get away before guards arrived on the scene. However, that didn't stop his Master from punishing Quirrell for his failure. Fortunately, not long after this, Dumbledore had called a meeting with the rest of the Hogwarts staff. He told them that he had something that needed to be protected and needed defences to be put in place to stop someone from getting it. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together. Quirrell knew that Dumbledore had the Philosophers Stone and so did his Master. After leaving that meeting Quirrell's Master had instructed him to get passed those defences and get the Stone. Once the Stone was in their possession, his Master will be able to return with a new body.

First, he needed to find where it was kept.

…

And that is the third chapter done. What did you guys think?

With Sirius now in a Ministry Holding Cell, awaiting his trial, it won't be long until we find out if he is freed or not. I imagine his, and the Dursleys trial, will be sometime between chapter 5 and Chapter 10, depending on whatever happens between then and now that sets up future plot points. Either way, Amelia will definitely be having some words with Dumbledore at some point.

Now, before you go, I want to tell you that I have a new poll up, which hopefully is on my profile. I have three crossover story ideas in mind, however, I want your opinion on which one I should write the first chapter for first. Also, remember, if you have a story request or want me to continue an abandoned fanfic, feel free to let me know.

That is all for now, I hope you enjoyed and I hope to see you next time.

Badger Out